Atomic Systems

Not if you're too lazy to feel guilty

If I won the UK lottery, what would I blow it all on?

If I won the UK lottery, what would I blow it all on?

More lottery tickets perhaps but be aware - if you bought 5 Lotto Tickets on the Saturday draw each week and 5 lotto tickets on the Wednesday draw each week, you would be fairly assured of winning the jackpot once every 26,923 years.

With odds like that, who is the winner?

That is an odd question that must be answered by odd means....I'll just go get my crystal ball.


Let's say those odds were shattered by you winning Lotto next week, who do you think would be first in line for a (free) handout?

I'll let you know when it happens.

Is it voodoo that stops a motorbike falling over when it's going round a corner?

Actually it's "vous-doo".


Why does buttered toast always fall buttered side down?

Why does buttered toast always fall buttered side down?

It may have something to do with the weight being on that side of the toast so it naturally turns over as it falls.

How many times would we need to carry out practical tests on this theory in order to arrive at a definitive conclusion

Acorncomputer wrote: How many times would we need to carry out practical tests on this theory in order to arrive at a definitive conclusion

A: Probabilities become more accurate depending on the frequency of the test relative to the number of possible outcomes, in this case, there's 2 possible outcomes (as I don't believe it would fall on it's side) so a good 100 times would make it definitive for me...

Q: Some of you may have seen the youtube video on the subject, but here's an odd question (one for the physicists out there)... 'How much does the internet weigh?'

Kev

'How much does the internet weigh?'

About as much as a bag of sugar (everything else does)

What if our universe was actually just an atom which existed as part of another universe which itself was just an atom of another universe which was itself just an atom of another universe and the atoms in our universe were all universes themselves which had their own atoms ..........

I can see you worry too much about the infinitesimal, you need a calming influence, such as alcohol, then you'd only have to worry about your liver.


Is it a sign of aging when six in a wicket is more satisfying than sex in a thicket?

Is it a sign of aging when six in a wicket is more satisfying than sex in a thicket?

Not sure but six in a thicket still sounds exciting to me

....and your question is?

CaptainBazza wrote:....and your question is?

In my younger days, I was shown how ordinary flour could cause a violent explosion when puffed into a cloud near to a flame. A number of famous explosions have been attributed to clouds of fine substances being ignited, including the coal store of the Titanic. I even remember being told that there was as much energy in a bag of flour as there is in a nuclear device (probably an exaggeration).

My question is, if there is so much energy stored up in everyday substances, why are we not using this stored power for our own purposes instead of pushing forward with other forms of (sometimes dubious) power sources. Why can't I fill up the car with flour and drive to the supermarket .... or could I, but this sort of technology has been kept from us for commercial reasons

(I would ask, when I should have kept my mouth shut...)

Why can't I fill up the car with flour and drive to the supermarket ..

It was tried, but cost too much dough...

If someone made a batch of marijuana laced scones and ate them, would they get 'sconed'?

Acorncomputer wrote: My question is, if there is so much energy stored up in everyday substances, why are we not using this stored power for our own purposes instead of pushing forward with other forms of (sometimes dubious) power sources. Why can't I fill up the car with flour and drive to the supermarket .... or could I, but this sort of technology has been kept from us for commercial reasons

Nuclear energy has a similar concept (If I'm not mistaken). Yes everything has stored energy (as long as it has mass), and the conversion rate from mass to energy when atoms are split is huge, as we all know our favourite equation E=MC squared, which would show that a bag of flour, in theory, could blow up the planet hundreds of times over. But that's not easy to do as atoms in such complex bonds as those found in flour are very hard to separate, so instead we resort to causing a chemical reaction between the flour and fire, which causes some energy to be converted into heat and movement (kinetic). This is very inefficient and results in a lot of carbon bi-products, which, if it was used to take you to the shops, would result in horrible pollution levels and a massive shortage of bread once you get there...

CaptainBazza wrote: If someone made a batch of marijuana laced scones and ate them, would they get 'sconed'?

Probably, and their parents would have them battered when they got home...

So in response to the previous topic, if you were able to convert mass into energy effectively, what object would you threaten worldwide destruction with and why?

So in response to the previous topic, if you were able to convert mass into energy effectively, what object would you threaten worldwide destruction with and why?

Windfarms !

Logic says that if you put up too many of these things, they will interrupt the natural flow of winds across the World and perhaps even slow down or stop the wind altogether. Taken to a natural conclusion, too many windfarms could cause a slowing down of the dissipation of heat from the World thus contributing significantly to the heating up of the World.

I think, however, there is some merit in attaching windturbines to large balloons and floating them into the Jet Stream high up in the sky where the wind speeds are into hundreds of miles per hour and would probably not be affected much by a few high output wind turbines in the way. Special care would need to be taken to ensure that the balloons were securely tethered to the ground and the wires bringing the generated electricity to the ground did not interfere with air transport. An alternative would be to use large kites instead of balloons but it would mean someone having to run pretty fast with the end of the string in order to get a large kite into the air in the first place

So my question is .... Have I gone mad or am I sane and everyone else is mad (Careful how you answer )